They left everything and followed him! I wish I could have been there…to see the faces on these fishermen…Simon and Andrew, James and John…their faces must have told an amazing story. Something must have happened…beneath the main storyline we have just heard…to compel them to let go such that they dropped all that they were doing to follow this man Jesus. He certainly must have been impressive.

Keep in mind…the story falls at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. He had just been baptized. He’s back home in Galilee. Peter…Andrew…James & John had just met him. The miracles…or what we might call the proof that this man Jesus was in fact special…that he could be the Messiah…that he was certainly a prophet of some kind…had only recently started happening. They saw him at the river and they saw the dove come down on his head…they might have even heard God say…this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. People were now coming to him for healing. He was already casting out Demons. Just last week in Wednesday’s gospel he healed a man with a withered hand…on the Sabbath. These events…these miracles of Jesus were his credentials…the proof that there was much more here than just meets the eye. And so these four men stopped their entire lives and followed him. The gospel reads…they dropped their nets and immediately followed him. There had to have been something in his face to make them do this. You notices that there was no negotiation…no conversation…no debate…they didn’t ask if they would have a day off or how many vacation days they would get per year…they simply stopped everything that they were doing and followed. I wonder…what is it like for someone to completely give up his life…in total trust of ultimately finding it.

You have to admit that there is something glorious…even freeing in leaving the day to day grind to follow a special calling. People have done this throughout history. Great explorers searching out new lands…College Kids back-backing through Europe…Church Missionaries traveling to exotic places…some of you here at Christ the King in the Army leaving everything behind and going on mission. It’s exciting. Before I went to seminary I was the managing partner Macaroni Grill in the Austin Market. I had all that I ever wanted and needed: money, authority, tenure, respect, comfort, all of the things that this life tells us is success. But there was…and is…something hard wired into each of our souls that tells us…I am calling you…Come and follow me and…ironically…it would be the greatest poverty to say no. It was exciting and scary all at the same time.

Today our world seems very different from the world we have just read about in the gospel. We live in a very safe world. Their world was not so safe. Maybe they were used to taking chances. Our entire existence…at least here in America…is based not on fishing nets…but rather safety nets. Don’t panic….There’s is always an option. There’s always a way out. We hear things like…Don’t Put all your eggs in one basket! Save it for a Rainy Day! Don’t write a check that you can’t cash! That’s why we find more young couples today living together before marriage as a sort of Trial Period to see if marriage is the right thing. They’re keeping their options open if it doesn’t work out rather than jumping all the way in.

The Problem is that there is a major flaw in this logic…it leaves no room for sacrificial commitment. We suffer from a crisis of sacrificial commitment! Do you know that 52% of all marriages in America today end in divorce? The average person, man or woman, sitting here today, will, in his or her lifetime, have five completely different careers. We have so many options that we don’t even know what we really want. As soon as it gets uncomfortable…unfulfilling…uninspiring…we’re off to the next option in life. It’s no wonder we don’t hear him when he calls for us. We’re too busy evaluating our choices. We have rendered ourselves incapable of making deep…sacrificial commitments. In many ways we even hold God hostage…I’ll follow you God…until you frustrate me God…then I’m out. This by the way is the basis for atheism. Atheists are marked by impatience for God. They might like him at first…but then…as he always does…he goes silent…to see what we will do I suppose…to see if we’re going to cut and run. The atheist run. I wonder…what would life look like if we weren’t so obsessed with keeping our options open…if we weren’t so committed to our escape routs…if we followed our hearts rather than our heads...I wonder what a life like that would look like?

Ultimately we really want Freedom. We think we are free. After all, we live in a Democracy. Isn’t that free? It’s one of the biggest misunderstandings that we face today. The Good News of Jesus is about freedom…being free enough to bet our entire lives on something. Simon Peter, James, John, Andrew were free. They weren’t free because of anything they did…and they certainly weren’t free living in Roman occupied Palestine. They were free because Christ set them free when he called out to them to follow Him. Again…there must have been something…deep beneath the surface of the story we heard today…something in his eyes maybe…to make them do what they did. And they were free enough to bet their lives on it.
Can you imagine betting your entire life on Jesus? This is the invitation you and I receive in the gospel today. Bet your entire life on me…He says! Don’t hold things back in reserve just in case…bet your life on me today…he says. What we do here every Sunday can’t just about one hour…our obligation…driving through to get our Jesus. If that’s the case then why not just sleep in? I for one don’t want to spend my time on meaningless religion. I’m looking for a something profound on which to bet my life. And I believe that to be Jesus Christ.

Now…don’t go home right after mass and grab a back pack of clothing…or give your Volvo away to the man on the street corner…or stop all that you’ve worked so hard to build in this life. That’s not the point! We’re in a different place and time from these fishermen. The point is this though…Who is in control here? Jesus or the Job. This gospel is a wake-up call. What would life look like if we let go of all that controls us…all that confuses us…all that blinds us to the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What would life be like if we dropped our defenses and let him take control? The Kingdom of God is what is being offered here: Healing, Peace, Order, Truth, Good Relationships, Love, Redemption, Everlasting Life. Are these the things you would bet your life on? They dropped all they were doing…all they had worked for…to follow this man…Jesus. What was in their hearts to do such a thing? That’s what I want in my heart. I want my heart to become untangled so as to drop everything and follow Him. Don’t you?